Scorpius darted into Ginny's bedroom at the hotel they were staying in a smile plastered on his face.
"Dad's having trouble with his tie again," he said with a smirk. Ginny laughed as she slipped her heeled sandals on and followed Scorpius through the suite to Draco's room. He was frowning into the mirror.
"I'm gonna go find grandmother," Scorpius said as Ginny entered the bedroom. She waved him off as she approached Draco who turned and threw his hands up in defeat.
"The tie wins this round." Ginny easily looped the material around and laughed at the face Draco continued to make.
"Who does your tie when I'm not around?"
"Mother or my secretary. I swear it's like I'll never remember how to do it - I used to never had a problem with it."
"Mental block," Ginny offered with a grin. Draco scowled and began to roll his sleeves down. Ginny noticed the darkened skin on his left forearm and turned her eyes away quickly. She'd never really noticed it before - in fact she couldn't remember a time that she had seen Draco with his forearms showing except when they were in bed and then she was usually sloshed or hungover and not paying particular attention.
Draco saw Ginny swing her eyes away from the mark on his forearm and scowled.
"I never wanted it you know," Draco said softly. He took a step toward Ginny and wrapped his arms around her tentatively. She turned into him, noting that his sleeves were still cuffed. She sighed heavily.
"I know, but it's so much harder to forget those days ever existed when I see you branded like that."
"I did it to protect my mother," Draco said, "And as much as Potter and everyone else might fault me for that, I think it was a worthy reason."
"I don't disagree," Ginny said softly. She leaned into Draco's embrace, shocking herself. He let his chin rest on the top of her head with a small sigh.
"You surprised me you know."
"What do you mean?"
"When I was released. You'd just let go of our entire past. It surprised me. It took me a while to get to that level."
"You were an ass at first," Ginny said softly. She stepped back and straightened her dress. Draco rolled down his sleeves with a slight frown, something Ginny missed as she turned to the door.
"We should leave or we'll be late for the ceremony."
Ginny allowed Draco to take her arm as they entered the small foyer of the Zabini's Italian villa. Ginny was surprised at the sparseness of it. She had thought, given what Malfoy Manor was like, that Zabini's childhood home would be filled with portraits and old heirlooms. Instead it was done in a very open design and there were very few family mementos anywhere – beyond the wedding pictures of the couple and pictures of their newborn son.
Draco guided her easily through the villa to the back yard where the gathering was to be held. It was a laidback affair, another surprise to Ginny – all the naming ceremonies she'd attended had been rife with formality and more akin to a family reunion than the small affair taking place on the Zabini veranda. Only the Malfoys, herself, and the godmother were present. The godmother was a short Italian woman who was introduced as a distant cousin of Blaise's.
After the ceremony Ginny sipped a glass of wine watching Blaise and his cousin talk animatedly in Italian. Draco was off with Sylvia who was putting their son Angelo down for his nap. Narcissa appeared at her elbow quite suddenly, drinking a sparkling water.
"Did you enjoy the ceremony?" she asked with a slight smile. Ginny found herself nodding.
"It wasn't quite like any other I've been too. Much more laidback," she replied.
"Neither of them have much family left to speak of," Narcissa replied. She looked over to where Scorpius was entertaining himself with one of Blaise's old brooms, flying small circuits around the backyard.
"Draco mentioned that a while ago," Ginny said softly. "I guess the war affected us all in different ways."
"Most people don't see it that way," Narcissa said with a soft sigh.
"I know," Ginny said sadly. "But I think it feels like we lost a lot more."
The two were interrupted when Draco reappeared with a smile on his face.
"Ready to go?" he asked, unaware of their conversation. Ginny nodded finishing what was left of her wine. Draco walked away to say goodbye to Blaise, clapping his bestfriend on the shoulder.
"We'll see you tomorrow at the match?" Ginny asked Sylvia.
"You'll see Blaise," Sylvia said lightly. Ginny noticed that her skin looked much healthier in her sober state. "I'm going to stay home with Antonio and Anna Maria, she doesn't enjoy Quidditch and she doesn't leave for another couple days. But I'll see you in June at Antonio's naming day and again for Scopius' birthday. We're thinking that we might move back to England at the end of the season."
"Of course," Narcissa said with a smile. She stepped forward to kiss the younger girl on the cheek. "Just owl me if you need anything darling. Blaise is like a second son to me, so you're part of the family now too."
"Thank you Naricssa. And thank you for all the support, I know Blaise appreciates it and I do as well. I don't know what I would have done without your help with the wedding."
"Don't mention it."
Ginny accepted Sylvia's hug before she left to join her husband. She watched Draco embrace her in a familiar fashion, giving her a genuine smile before he returned with Scorpius by his side.
"Draco hurry up," Ginny said for the fourth time as she pulled on her riding boots. She huffed when she made her way into his bedroom and he was still fixing his hair.
"Why do we need to go so early?" Draco asked with a huff of his own. He played with his hair a little more before he started to unroll his sleeves from their cuffed position.
"We just do," Ginny said with a frown. Scorpius was sitting in the living room looking through the new cards he'd gotten the chocolate frogs they'd purchased the night before.
"That's not a very good reason," Draco huffed. He turned towards her with a smirk. "But I'm ready anyway. Shall we go?"
Ginny scowled at him but turned out of his bedroom.
"Ready Scorp?"
"Been ready," Scorpius said with his own scowl. He was in a pair of black slacks and an emerald green button down his grandmother had bought him, unlike Draco he wore the sleeves cuffed around his elbows, anticipating the heat that was sure to be present, even in their box.
"Where did you say we were sitting?" Draco asked for the hundredth time as they arrived at the stadium where the match would be held. Ginny merely smiled at him.
"It's a surprise. Gods, you're worse than your son sometimes. Just wait here, I'll be right back," Ginny said as she broke away from them and went into the women's locker room for the visiting team. Draco scowled as he leaned against the wall. Scorpius merely smiled, rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet as he watched the spectators drift in and begin climbing the stairs to their seats.
"Ginerva!" most of the girls chimed as she entered the locker room. She found herself almost immediately surrounded and gave hugs to many of the girls on the team, greeting them by name. The new ones introduced themselves, looking slightly in awe.
"Everyone back to stretching," a commanding voice said from the office off to the side. The girls dispersed quickly as a lean, almost six foot woman emerged and enveloped Ginny in a hug of her own.
"Welcome home darling," Georgina said with a smile. Ginny returned the hug and smile before stepping back to watch the girls stretch. "Miss it yet?"
"Every day," Ginny said softly. Georgina gave her a knowing smile and produced a key from around her neck.
"The key to your box, you know you've never asked for it before."
"Well, I guess after five years it may be time to announce that I'm the silent owner of the Harpies," Ginny said with a chuckle. She took the key and tucked it into the back pocket of the dark jeans she was wearing.
"Long time coming. I'm glad you think I'm just stroking my ego when I ask how you feel about each season."
"You've won the Cup twice, I don't think I'm out of line," Ginny said with a laugh. "Feel free to join us once they're in the air."
"I probably will, I'm eager to meet whoever's important enough to bring to a match in Italy."
"My son and his father," Ginny said with another laugh. Georgina raised her eyebrows and Ginny hit her on the arm. "Don't act like you haven't been reading the papers, scouring them for every detail."
"Only if you don't act like you're just another girl Draco Malfoy is seeing." Georgina replied waggling her eyebrows at Ginny. Ginny just shook her head and left the locker room.
"We're pretty high up," Draco commented. Ginny just nodded, turning up the next flight of stairs.
"These tickets must have cost a fortune," Draco added as they rounded the last flight of stairs.
"You could say that," Ginny replied. She pulled the key out of her back pocket and inserted it into the door at the top of the stairs. Draco frowned.
"Wait do you know the owner or something?"
Scorpius beat Draco into the box and went immediately to the windows to look down over the pitch. Draco merely stared at Ginny as she gestured him in.
"Draco I am the owner," Ginny said with a laugh. Draco laughed heartily at this. Ginny scowled.
"The owner hasn't been named in like…five years."
"Yes," Ginny said, her scowl deepening. She tucked the key back into her pocket and studiously ignored Draco as she joined Scorpius at the window. "What do you think?"
"This is awesome!" Scorpius said happily. He pulled one of the chairs right up the rail and placed his arms on it, watching as the teams took flight for warmups.
Draco watched Ginny silently as she poured herself a glass of firewhiskey and sat in one of the chairs near Scorpius. With a sigh he followed suit and sat in the chair next to her. As the teams were landing to shake hands, Blaise, Narcissa and Georgina arrived in the box. Blaise and Georgina poured themselves drinks.
"Who'd you bribe for this box Weasley?" Blaise asked with a chuckle. Ginny scowled again.
"Why would she have to bribe someone?" Georgina asked, a mock surprised look on her face. "Ginerva owns the team."
"Meet Georgina McGregor, the coach," Ginny said easily. "The young one at the rail is my son Scorpius, this is his father Draco Malfoy, the Malfoy matriarch Narcissa, and our friend Blaise Zabini."
"Mr. Malfoy and I have had the pleasure of meeting before," Georgina said. She offered a smile, though it looked more like a wolf baring its teeth as she shook Draco's hand.
"Seriously though, do you know the owner?" Blaise asked as though someone was playing a prank on him. Ginny slammed her glass down on the table her temper rising steadily. Narcissa intervened her face a mask of calm.
"Ginerva bought the team five years ago. I should know, we were in a bidding war with her. I wanted to acquire the team for Malfoy Enterprises and merge it with the Falcons."
"Seriously?" Blaise asked, his face incredulous.
"Yes," Ginny said evenly. She poured herself another glass of firewhiskey and turned away from the men. Georgina joined her at the rail and they fell into a quick coded talk of what the team was doing, both well aware that Draco owned one of their main competitors.
"I don't know why you refuse to believe her," Narcissa said with a huff to Draco. Draco scowled at his mother and took his drink over to sit with Scorpius and observe the match.
"It is a little far-fetched," Blaise offered in their defense. Narcissa just laughed.
"Ginerva is nothing if not full of surprises. I'm sure you've realized that." Blaise had the decency to look uncomfortable with the knowing look Narcissa gave him. He allowed her to shepherd him over to Scorpius and Draco. After Ginny had calmed down she joined them, listening to Scorpius go on about how awesome the Harpies were. She offered Draco a winning smile as he scowled, sullen that his son had chosen the Harpies over his own team.